Kalokairi
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: WOW! New category! When was the last time that happened? I saw the original film about two months ago, and then the sequel this past weekend. Love ABBA's music, and I wrote this quick little ditty. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Walking

**Chapter 1: Walking**

24-year-old Donna Sheridan smiled lovingly down at her year-old toddler, Sophie, as they toddled along the beach of Kalokairi, just beyond the ferry docks. The Earth had spun on its axis nearly twice since Donna - fresh off of graduation from Oxford's New College - had struck out on her own.

Although, Donna would have been forgiven if she had not noticed the Earth continuing to spin, for it was roughly a year ago that she had known a love so new and crippling, simply gazing at the embodiment of that love made her nearly weep.

Sophie had not been an easy pregnancy. All the more difficult because Donna had no idea who was the father, who blessed her with such a gift before fleeing like a ghost. There were three likely candidates - one British, one Swede, one American - but Donna had had them so close together, it was impossible to tell from whom her child had been conceived. In the months since Sophie's birth, she had observed her daughter both closely and from afar, looking for clues. Did she have the pleading, almost boyishly innocent gaze of Harry Bright, the British baker who had been so wet-behind-the-ears, Donna had gone to bed with him almost out of pity? Sophie had blonde hair that was blinding in the sun, just like Bill Anderson, the dashing Swedish sailor who had seduced her on his boat, as they sailed bound for the island. Perhaps that made sense, for Donna remembered Bill saying once that he had a relative who lived on the far side of Kalokairi. If only she had gotten the relative's name, so she could seek him out for a second opinion. Genes were known to skip a generation, right? But then, Sophie would disarm her with a look, with piercing eyes that... could they be from...?

Donna swallowed the lump in her throat. The American architect, Sam Carmichael. It was difficult to even think his name, for it was he who had loved her, then betrayed her and left her swollen with child... possibly. Well, his hand in the pregnancy was possible, but his betrayal - leaving her for a fiancé waiting back in the States - was all too indisputable. Their love, their passionate nights having sex... as much as Donna tried to banish them, those were real, too.

From the start, the tiny Grecian island had called to her, like one of the Sirens of this nation's myths. But Donna was no Calypso, and she had not turned her men - her lovers - into pigs. They had done that themselves, Sam worst of all.

Pausing several yards beyond the ferry dock, the waters sparkling in the high noon sun, Donna raised a hand to shield her eyes from the glare as she slowly backed a tentative step, then two, then three, then four, away from her daughter. Sophie blinked at her mother curiously, swaying a little in concern, though she did not fall. She was adept enough at standing on her own. The next test was what was crucial...

Donna knelt in the sand, the coarse grains tickling her bare feet. "Come on, Sophie! Come to Mama!"

Sophie put a finger to her lips, almost as if in thought, and then... took a teetering step. Donna gasped, hardly daring to believe it. Sophie paused, shaking a little, but maintained her balance. Another step, firmer this time, only to be followed by an unsteady third that nearly sent Sophie into the tide-kissed shoreline. A fourth step, with Donna in reach, and Sophie half-fell into her arms.

"You did it! You did it, Sophie!" Donna squealed, beaming and brimming with pride. "Mama is so proud of you!" Picking her up, Donna nuzzled the child close, as she thought sadly: _And Daddy would be too... wherever and whoever he is._


	2. Chapter 2: Singing

**Chapter 2: Singing**

The cafe high on the hilly terrace was closed on Sundays, which made Donna grateful that she could use it for singing practice.

But today, she would not be practicing alone.

Six-year-old Sophie was eyeing the microphone in its stand nervously. From her perch atop the miniature stage, her gaze swiveled to her mother behind the bar, who nodded encouragingly.

So shyly, even though there was nobody there except the one person from whom Sophie could never feel judgement, the little girl began to sing:

 _"I was cheated by you... and I think you know when..."_ There was a pause, and Donna would not have been surprised if her daughter was counting the measures in her head. _"So, I made up my mind it was must come to an end..."_ Now, Sophie really did falter, looking at her mother nervously.

"Come on, don't be scared, baby girl," Donna murmured soothingly. "I know you can do it."

Bolstered, Sophie started again, a little more confidently this time:

 _"Look at me now. While I ever learn? I don't know how... but I suddenly lose control... There's a fire within my soul..."_

Two pairs of identical eyes locked, and it was as if Donna and Sophie's personalities exploded as one, in time with the shifting tempo, prompted by an invisible kick drum.

 _"Just one look, and I can hear a bell ring. One more look, and I forget everything. Whoa-oh: Mamma Mia - here I go again! My, my, how can I resist you? Mamma Mia - does it show again? My, my, just how much I miss you!"_

They were belting now, dancing around the cafe like two teenagers. _"Yes, I've been broken-hearted! Blue since the day we parted! Why, why did I ever let you go? Mamma Mia - now I really know my my, I should not have let you go!"_

Donna and Sophie finished strong, shrieking with victorious laughter and hugging. Sophie hugged her mother around her middle.

"Mama's so proud of you, baby!" Donna beamed.

"Mama?" Sophie sent the question into her overalls.

"Yes, baby?"

Sophie dared to look up into Donna's face, her little chin resting at level with her waist. "Are you sad that Daddy left?"

Donna bit her lip. Sophie had asked about her father before, and whenever she had, Donna had simply said that her father had left. Which was true... possibly. Sam had left. Bill had left, then had come back, then left _again_. And Harry... there had been nothing for Harry to leave, for she had left _him_ , not the other way around.

But in response, Donna said. "Yes. I used to be. Not so much anymore." Even though, in the case of at least one man, that was a lie. "Because I got you in exchange. Now I'd say that was a fair trade, wouldn't you?"

Sophie grinned contemplatively. "Yes." A slight pause, and then: "Mama?"

"Yes, Sophie?"

"Will I ever get to meet him? Daddy?"

Again, Donna bit her lip. But this time, her answer was more ready. "Maybe, Sophie. When you're older. But... you may have to be prepared that your father leaving me is all you will ever know. I don't know where he is." _Hell, I don't who he is,_ she thought.

"OK," Sophie accepted meekly. She really was a good little girl. How had Donna gotten so lucky? Then an impish grin appeared on her face. "You wanna sing _Dancing Queen_?"

"Try and stop me!" Donna grinned conspiratorially back.

And the Sheridan girls continued to dance and sing in the cafe for the rest of the day.


End file.
